U.S., British jets hit Iraqi air defense

Posted: Thursday, February 11, 1999

By Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- U.S. and British warplanes struck several Iraqi air defense sites Wednesday after three waves of Iraqi fighters violated the southern ''no-fly'' zone in the first clash in a week, U.S. military officials said.

Iraqi planes and anti-aircraft missile batteries didn't target the Western jets, but U.S. and British pilots fired on the air defense systems to remove a potential danger, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ernest Duplessis, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command in Florida.

''Any time we have a violation of the no-fly zone, that is a threat,'' Duplessis said.

Coalition aircraft included more than half a dozen U.S. Air Force F-15E fighters and A-10 jets with enough firepower to take out tanks as well as several British GR-1 Tornado fighter-bombers. All returned safely to base after separate attacks over the course of about eight hours, the Pentagon said.

The official Iraqi News Agency reported the strikes killed a civilian and injured others. U.S. officials said a damage assessment had not been completed.

The Western warplanes used precision-guided missiles and 500 and 1,000 pound bombs -- although U.S. officials didn't say how many -- to hit surface-to-air missile batteries, radar sites and a communications tower, U.S. defense officials said.

The incidents occurred near Talil, about 170 miles southeast of Baghdad, and near An Najaf, about 100 miles south of Baghdad. The Western aircraft first struck between 2:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. EST and in a second wave at about 11 a.m. EST, U.S. officials said.